Being Rescued is Overrated
by TheCrowMaiden
Summary: A Cavenbecca (and Bartolomeo) Fantasy AU where Cavendish tries to save the princess and things don't go as planned. One shot, fun, fluff. Kinda Romance-y.


Rebecca had just gathered her small bronze watering pitcher and her collection of pruning tools when she heard a groaning rumble from the top of the tower.

"Beccaaaaaaaa. There's another one."

Sighing, she put everything down and hiked up her grubby garden frock to climb the stairs. At least she had just been attending to the flowers adjacent to her rooms and not the ones in the courtyard of the tiny castle.

Still, she was out of breath when she got to the top, and after lifting the trap door she had to climb over the outstretched tail of the sprawling green dragon Bartolomeo. Her friend and guardian was lying on his back and looking out over the ledge upside down, lazily scratching his stomach.

Using his scaly paw that was still, she pulled herself to the top of a merlon next to his head and sat, absentmindedly scratching him under his ruffled chin.

"Can you see them very well yet?" Rebecca asked, since the figure on the beaten dirt path was still little more than a speck to her eyes.

"Nah," Bartolomeo replied, hooking one of his talons through her belt so she wouldn't fall off, "all I can see is a white horse and someone on it."

Rebecca sighed again, and looked down the tower to the far off balcony with her rose garden. "Do you think I have time to get some pruning done? They don't seem to be in much of a hurry."

Bartolomeo snorted a wisp of smoke and he grinned at her with his extraordinarily large, even for a dragon, canines.

"You're already pretty dirty. If you come back up here even dirtier AND out of breath they'll never believe you're the princess. That last pompous knight still thought you were the maid when I toasted his fat ass back to Green Bit."

A horse's whinny made the girl and dragon look back to the path where the newcomer had properly come into view.

The plume of his hat was somewhat less ridiculous than what the other knights bore on their helmets and he only seemed to have a sword, instead of the cumbersome spear with attached pennants. He also appeared to be more slender than the usual men who came to the tower blowing their trumpets and bellowing challenges. He overall looked out of place from her memory of the rest.

"Alright, time for me to do my thing," Bartolomeo said, "get outta the way for a minute."

Rebecca quickly slid down from the stone block and retreated down the trap door, waiting until the rasping on scales on stones stopped. She brushed some of the dirt off her skirt as she counted to ten to be sure, before she climbed back up and went back to stand next to the dragon. Instead of blowing smoke as he sometimes did, he was sitting upright and picking his teeth. They were both curious about the man that was coming alone, without even a squire or page.

Man and horse slipped of sight again when they began to follow the path up the steep hill that would bring them to the edge of the cliff and near enough to be seen, so Rebecca occupied herself with polishing and rearranging Bartolomeo's many earrings that had once been her bracelets. He did like to look his best so he could savour the knights' stunned expressions when they caught sight of his bangles.

The blue feathered plume finally appeared at the crest of the hill, and Rebecca ducked down so she could watch unnoticed. The man was certainly the youngest that had showed up so far, and he had rather long and well kept blond hair. He had a pristine, overlarge white cloak that looked like it was covered in embroideries and that swept gracefully over the hindquarters of his horse.

"Foul and ill tempered beast," the man cried out grandly as he gestured with his sword, "I am here to end your reign of fear and rescue the princess from your clutches! You shall be defeated swiftly, for I am Prince Cavendish, well known for my exploits of strength and renowned for my beauty!"

"What an arrogant windbag," Bartolomeo grumbled to Rebecca under his breath, "and he's not even wearing armour. Can I eat him?"

"No!" Rebecca hissed, smacking his arm even though she knew it didn't hurt him. "No eating people!"

The dragon rolled his eyes at her, and leaned over the crenelations to impudently stick his long forked tongue out at the man.

"Screw off, blondie. Princess likes it here, so unless you wanna be a crisp you better move your ass along."

Prince Cavendish, perhaps stunned by the rude and unexpected conduct of the dragon that was rather against normal protocol, sat speechless on his horse for so long that Rebecca impulsively climbed up from behind the stone wall and raised her arm to get his attention.

"It's quite true, you know." She called out, leaning on Bartolomeo for support. "I have a miniature rose garden that I don't want to neglect, after all."

Looking baffled, the Prince pulled a rose from somewhere in his cloak and started tearing off the petals to Rebecca's bewilderment. After contemplating one of the removed petals for several moments he popped it into his mouth, surprising a laugh from her. Chewing on it inattentively, he studied her closely as he finished dismembering the rose.

Looking down to dust the torn petals from his frilled collar once he was done, he looked back up at her with a still-baffled expression.

"Are you certain? I was under the impression you were cursed and imprisoned and the like."

"It actually was just the new king wanting me out of the way," Rebecca said, shrugging, "even though I wasn't in line to inherit the throne. But my father sneaks away from the kingdom at least once a fortnight and visits and Bartolomeo here is good company. So I really don't want to leave."

"The _dragon _has a name? And is good company?"

"Better company than you, Prince Cabbage," Bartolomeo mocked, "I don't need things repeated."

"How exactly does a princess make friends with a beast that was intended as her gaoler?" The blond asked, pointedly ignoring the dragon in question apart from a scowl.

"Well, the first week I was here I tried to escape myself. But when Bartolomeo caught up with me, we had words and he decided he liked me."

"Actually, she punched me in the nose." The dragon said frankly, and wrapped the end of his tail around her waist with a toothy grin. "Most of 'em faint. She called me a couple things that her dad would be appalled to hear her repeat."

Rebecca muttered one of them under her breath at her friend, and he literally roared with laughter. All the birds for miles took flight as one, and the ensuing gust knocked the prince's hat clean off and showered him in forest debris.

Now looking completely deflated, Prince Cavendish pulled another rose from somewhere within his cloak and plucked the petals off with the distinct air of a sulk. His petulance was so at odds with the usual continued ignorance and bravado of the others who had come that the princess actually felt sorry for him. He didn't seem insulted or incredulous, just disappointed.

"I would appreciate it though, if you could perhaps give a royal order to prevent more knights from coming around." Rebecca called out to him once he had picked his second rose bare, ignoring Bartolomeo's not-so-quiet insults about the man being over dramatic. "It would be a wonderful favour." She added, honestly wanting to make the blond haired man feel better and feeling a bit bad that they had ruffled him so.

Prince Cavendish unpinned his cloak and dismounted from his horse, leaving the material draped over the saddle. He picked up his hat and straightened his clothes before gingerly picking his way closer to the edge cliff. Sheathing his sword, he neatly climbed onto one of the cairns so he was closer to the top of the wall.

"Are you sure you would not prefer I brought you back to your kingdom and disposed of this usurper who has locked you away?" He asked quietly, tipping back the brim of his hat and looking at her with complete seriousness.

For the first time since he had arrived he actually seemed competent and perhaps even dangerous, and Rebecca had a fleeting suspicion that he was stronger than he appeared. Realizing she hadn't yet answered him, Rebecca blushed and picked some of the dirt from her braid.

"No," she said firmly, "I prefer it here. But... if you could find a way for my father to leave the kingdom without them hunting him down…"

With a brilliant smile, the prince lightly jumped down from the piled stones and swept her an elegant bow while somehow producing yet another rose to offer her.

"With great pleasure my lady, but on one condition."

"What condition?" Bartolomeo cut in, leaning over the side of the wall and blowing a small spurt of flame at the blond that singed the man's hat and incinerated the rose.

And with considerable composure, the prince smiled at the princess as he dusted off the charred bits of feather and flower.

"Let me stay for a visit afterwards. I'd like to see your garden."


End file.
